County VibeSolano Alliance program invites community to participate in “Love Your Community” event

February 13, 2018

SOLANO COUNTY – VibeSolano Alliance invites the public to "Love Your Community"- a lively interactive event showcasing past and future projects that help Solano County become a more vibrant and healthy place to live, learn, work and play. The event will be held on Thursday February 15, 2018 from 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Ray and Joan Kroc Center, 586 E. Wigeon Way in Suisun City. Participation in this event is free.

VibeSolano Alliance is a partnership that brings community members and cross-sector leaders together to create a more vibrant, equitable and healthy Solano. The Alliance strives to help each city, and the County to create an environment where everyone has an opportunity to thrive.

County Board of Supervisors Chair John Vasquez and Vice Chairwoman Erin Hannigan will present welcoming remarks along with Suzanne Bragdon, City Manager of Suisun City as the keynote speaker. Solano County residents, including representatives from Friday Night Live, Vallejo Together, Downtown Fairfield, and Greater Vallejo Recreation District, will share their stories and how these programs have benefited their lives, the lives of their customers and their neighborhoods.

“Over the last five years, VibeSolano Alliance has worked to improve the health of the residents of Solano County through changes in the environment around us,” said Terry Ann Steffen, VibeSolano Alliance Co-Chair. “We invite residents to love their community by joining our celebration of the successes, innovations, and inspiration that have come from these efforts.”

The “Love Your Community” event will start with hors d'oeuvres and time for networking and socializing. The program includes videos, guest speakers and activities to encourage participants to exchange ideas for a healthy Solano. A raffle for several prizes is included at the event. Kroc Center will provide childcare.

“By partnering with community organizations, private businesses and local government, VibeSolano Alliance is proud to report that Solano County residents and visitors can now enjoy 115 smoke-free parks, 19 smoke-free apartment complexes, 55 water bottle filling stations in parks and 39 in schools, 7 stores with healthier items at checkout and 54 lifestyle improvement classes to help people prevent and manage chronic conditions,” says Michael Brito, VibeSolano Alliance Co-Chair. “To ensure this good work continues, and Solano County keeps getting better, the event will include time to share your ideas about how to expand on these projects.”

VibeSolano Alliance recently established four subcommittees to focus on separate projects, including creating labyrinths (meditation paths), improving oral health, increasing physical activity, and integrating health-related components into city and county planning efforts. Participants in these subcommittees will be seeking ideas for projects during the event, and the Alliance will ask participants for ideas for additional projects.

About VibeSolanoVibeSolano is a set of initiatives of the Health Promotion & Community Wellness Bureau of Solano Public Health, which work toward a more vibrant, healthy Solano. Our goal is to ensure that our spaces and places support conditions in which our residents can be healthy, and to make healthy choices easy choices. Much of this work is accomplished by improving access to healthy options, and through policies and environmental changes. We work with many partners and residents, because this work cannot be accomplished by just one organization. Visit www.VibeSolano.com or @VibeSolano on Facebook and Twitter to learn how to help us create a more vibrant, healthy Solano.

In addition to the healthy store makeovers, VibeSolano works to increase availability of water stations with bottle fillers in local parks and schools, increase smoke-free apartments and public spaces, support clinician-community connections so that residents can live healthy, vibrant lives, and works with Solano’s Safe Routes to Schools program.